Dana L. Harmon is the director of physical education, recreation, and athletics at WPI, a position she has held since 2002. She is only the sixth athletic director in the 150 year history of WPI, and the first woman to serve in that role. Harmon oversees the physical education program for the university's 4,500 undergraduates; over 35 club sports with more than 750 students; an intramural program with over 2,500 participants; and WPI’s NCAA Division III athletic program which includes 20 varsity sports and over 650 student-athletes. She was honored as the 2019 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics/Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year for her leadership of WPI Athletics.

Under her leadership, the Department of Physical Education, Recreation, & Athletics has grown in all areas including an expanded wellness and physical education curriculum, increased club sports offerings, and an athletic program that is experiencing unprecedented success in the classroom, in competition and in the community.  WPI varsity student-athletes continue to excel at the conference, regional and national levels both athletically and academically, while continuing to have higher graduation rates and GPAs than the general student body.

Harmon has also provided leadership and development in the more than $120 million transformation of WPI’s sport facilities including a new Sports & Recreation Center, a new rooftop sports complex, the renovated Alumni Stadium and the continuing renovation of Harrington Auditorium. Additionally through the years, she has served on numerous university committees in the areas of strategic planning; diversity & inclusion; mental health; covid emergency response; leadership development; curriculum review; student affairs; Title IX; sexual violence prevention; campus infrastructure; information technology; and various staff and faculty searches.  She is a member of the university’s senior leadership Management Council, currently serves on the executive committee of NADIIIAA (National Association of Division 3 Athletic Administrators) as well as the NCAA Division 3 Financial Aid Committee and is a past president of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference.

Prior to her appointment at WPI, Harmon served as associate director, then acting director of athletics at Wellesley College. She is a graduate of Bellarmine College (University) in Louisville, Ky., where she played Division II basketball. She received a BA in business administration from Bellarmine before earning an MS in sport management from UMass Amherst. 

Harmon was an inaugural inductee into the Anderson High School (Cincinnati, OH) Athletic Hall of Fame for her outstanding accomplishments in basketball, soccer, softball and track & field. Harmon lives with her wife Darnell Adams in Boston.